


Game Theory

by Torytigress92



Series: Star Wars: Bloodhound 'Verse [2]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars: Jedi: Fallen Order (Video Game), Star Wars: Rise of Empire Era - All Media Types, Star Wars: Thrawn Ascendancy Trilogy - Timothy Zahn
Genre: Aftermath of Torture, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Calquisitor, F/M, Implied/Referenced Brainwashing, Implied/Referenced Torture, In the Game of Thrones you win or you die... oops wrong fandom, Inquisitor Cal Kestis, Obsession, Possessive Behaviour, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Power Dynamics, Power Play, Sith Shenanigans (Star Wars), Sith!Cal, Sith!Jayna, Unhealthy Coping Mechanisms, Unhealthy Relationships, VERY GREY MORALITY, dark side au, grey morality, references to Rebels, treachery is the way of the sith
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-13
Updated: 2020-09-13
Packaged: 2021-03-06 14:55:18
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,314
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26450737
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Torytigress92/pseuds/Torytigress92
Summary: After her fall on Moraband, ancient birthplace of the Sith, Cal brings Jayna to Coruscant to take her first step on the long, winding, bloody road towards toppling the Empire and avenging themselves and everyone they have loved on its Emperor.And they just might find themselves a potential ally along the way. All is as the Force wills it...
Relationships: Cal Kestis/Jayna Shan, Cal Kestis/Original Female Character(s)
Series: Star Wars: Bloodhound 'Verse [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1817452
Comments: 5
Kudos: 15





	Game Theory

_Jayna was dreaming._

_She knew it was a dream, because it lacked the hyper-realism of the visions that she had experienced through her Force bond. And yet, it was so much more than a mere, unformed, vague wash of sounds and images she recalled from what few dreams she could remember._

_No, this was something more._

_Each image was rendered in glorious sound, colour and sensation, of smell and taste: the flash of light reflected off Mandalorian armour, the taste of blood and sweat on her tongue, the sound of screams as plastoid-armoured Stormtroopers, Royal Guards and a dark, armoured shadow collapsed to the floor, writhing under a web of snaking, crackling purple lightning; poisonous yellow eyes wide with disbelief and impotent rage as they disintegrated into nothingness-_

_Red eyes narrowed in watchful interest…blue-black hair…an elegant hand held out in alliance, cobalt blue skin stark against a grey Imperial officer’s uniform tunic…_

_Brightly painted Mandalorian armour… shrewdly intelligent brown eyes… two hands holding an angular, strangely square hilt aloft as a black saber sprang from it…_

_A throne… two sabers held in a cross, one the colour of a Nubian twilight, the other the shade of a Coruscant dawn…_

* * *

Jayna was pulled from her dream by the feeling of lips pressed against her neck, tucked into the exposed curve as even that tiny caress was enough to ignite the fire in her blood. Stretching out her naked limbs as they emerged from the sheet haphazardly thrown over them, she moaned in protest as strong, callused hands traced her body.

“Time to get up, love. We’re only a few hours from Coruscant,” Cal’s voice whispered in her ear, loving, and knowing as she tried her best to ignore him. Since leaving Moraband in his shuttle, they’d done nothing except sleep and make love on the rudimentary cot stashed in the back of the shuttle, still too energised by their joining to think about anything else. The Force bond pulsed between them, safe and solid as bedrock- but no, bedrock was the wrong analogy, she thought detachedly as Cal’s hand slipped between her legs, sending a shock of sensation through her as her body jerked. No, their Force bond… _dyad_ , whispered a voice in her head, was stronger than that. Bedrock could be destroyed, pulverised out of existence with enough brute force. They would not be crushed by such paltry forces, not anymore.

The strongest stars had hearts of kyber, or so the saying went. If so, their dyad was forged from kyber itself, she reflected as she glanced over her shoulder at Cal, citrine gaze meeting its twin as their lips brushed. “We could still get away… change the co-ordinates, disable the tracker, go anywhere in the galaxy,” she whispered, almost seductively as Cal’s eyes flashed.

“They would find us. The shadow of the Empire grows longer by the day,” he replied huskily, eyes knowing as he continued to tease between her thighs. “Soon, it’ll cover the entire galaxy. And I know you don’t really mean it.”

“One could find such impudence aggravating, First Brother,” Jayna replied, eyes narrowed even as she acknowledged his statement as truth. The certainty that had been birthed from her fall and the consummation of the bond still filled her and she knew her path was true.

“I shall endeavour to make it up to you, my lady,” he whispered, pressing his lips to her devouringly as she moaned and stretched up against him, plastering her naked body against his own as he groaned into her mouth. “One more time,” he growled, parting their lips as her hands reached for the closures of his tunic, pulling them apart so it gaped across his strong, scarred torso.

“One more time,” she murmured in agreement, shoving him back down onto his back as she straddled his hips, unashamed and uninhibited as their lips met and fused once more.

* * *

The skies of Coruscant were dark and stormy, befitting Jayna’s mood, as their shuttle swept through the early-morning traffic of the skylanes, granted emergency clearance to cut through by Coruscant Traffic Control. The Lambda class shuttle glided gracefully towards a ziggurat structure, crowned with five spires, in the near distance, gleaming palely in the half-light of the rain clouds and Coruscant’s distant star. It was at the peak of a triangle between two other monolithic buildings, the entire district heavily fortified, as a Star Destroyer loomed menacingly overhead.

As they drew nearer, Jayna could see the sides of the ziggurat were draped in Imperial banners, while in the Force… the structure radiated darkness.

 _‘The Imperial Palace…’_ Cal’s voice whispered in her head. _‘Built from the ruins of the Jedi Temple.’_

Despite the fact they’d both abandoned the Jedi path, Jayna could sense the residual pain and hate rising in Cal as she grasped his shoulder comfortingly.

 _‘We will avenge them, Cal. Every last one of them will see their mistake in trusting Palpatine and Vader…’_ she whispered in his head. _‘Speaking of which… you still haven’t told me whatever secret you managed to find out about Vader?’_

The change in topic successfully pulled Cal from his memories of the past, as he snorted disdainfully. The pain vanished, but the hate remained, burning through the dyad.

 _‘He made the mistake of coming into my cell one day after a…session, before I was fully restrained. I managed to break free and grabbed hold of his helmet…’_ Cal explained, glancing at her as the auto-pilot kicked in and the shuttle flew on its own towards the Imperial Palace.

In the corner of her mind where the Force bond dwelled, Jayna could see Cal’s memories flashing across her mind’s eye…

_The bloody-red light of the octagonal cell… the burning ache in Cal’s muscles… the patchwork patterns on his skin from the last beating… the dryness of his mouth and throat from hours of screaming, too broken down to feel shame for it anymore…_

_The dark armoured warrior Jayna knew as Darth Vader entered, his black cape sweeping behind him…he spoke, but what he said was lost to her, in the second-hand view of his memories…_

_‘So much made sense afterwards… his hatred of my father… how he knew my mother…’_ Cal continued, a haunted look taking over his features as the memories came faster in her head.

_The dark warrior spoke two words clearly… “Kenobi… Satine…” then a bestial cry from Cal as he lunged for the shadow, but not for the saber hanging from his belt. But for his helmet, as Cal’s bloodied, misshapen fingers latched on and refused to let go…_

_More images, but not Cal’s memories this time…_

_Burning rage…insidious hatred… a bittersweet, impossible yearning… as she stared up at an auburn-haired man in the beige tunic of the Jedi Order, standing on a burning lava bank, hands outstretched with a saber of brightest blue in one hand…_

_“It’s over, Anakin! I have the high ground!”_

_A flash of rage and contempt – “You underestimate my power!”_

_The searing pain of the saber cutting through her arm and both legs below the knee as she tumbled onto the bank…_

_“You were the Chosen One! It was said you would destroy the Sith, not join them! Bring balance to the Force, not leave it in darkness!” the auburn-haired man cried, a heartbroken, desperate sound that tore at her even as it enraged her. But she couldn’t move…she was stunted, unable to focus through the pain as simmering embers caught aflame in her hair and robes… “You were my brother, Anakin! I loved you!”_

_Then nothing but flames and darkness as she was consumed…then…_

_“Lord Vader… can you hear me?”_

Abruptly Jayna found herself thrust from the memory, and Cal’s mind, as she panted for breath, leaning heavily on the back of his chair as Cal’s gloved hands clenched into fists. “I was punished…severely for my impudence but he never realised the extent of what I saw,” he whispered brokenly. “It was after that; I saw the path to freedom and vengeance for what the Emperor and Vader had done…”

“Cal… what?” she breathed, confused. “I don’t understand…?”

Cal shook his head, red hair flaming in the dim light of the sun. “I don’t have time to explain now… you need to bury it deep, love. Vader’s true identity is the darkest secret of the Empire… if the Emperor discovers we know it…”

He didn’t have to finish that sentence. They wouldn’t live to see the sunset if the Emperor discovered they knew.

Before she could say anything, a chill rushing through her, a voice sounded on the comms, cut-glass Imperial accents supercilious and self-important as Jayna bristled instinctively.

_“Shuttle Aurelius, this is ImpPal Flight Control… you are cleared to land.”_

“Understood, Flight Control. Here we go,” Cal breathed, retaking control of the shuttle as he swung low over the Palace, towards a massive courtyard where Jayna could see other ships, shuttles, and freighters, docked. He guided the shuttle towards a landing pad, where a welcoming committee of Stormtroopers, Royal Guards in their blood-red masks and cloaks, and a dark-robed figure waited for them.

Taking a deep breath, Jayna stepped away from the cockpit, slipping back through to the living area as she reached for her jacket. Slipping it on, she pulled the hood up and over her hair, now washed clean of the red dye she’d used to disguise it, her hand hovering over the two saber hilts that rested on the cot.

She felt the light jolt as the shuttle landed and docked, its engines shutting down with a _whir_ , as Cal stepped up behind her.

“Best to leave them here,” he whispered, reaching past her to gently pick up first his, then hers. “The time to wield them will come again but not yet.”

“Not yet,” Jayna agreed, reluctantly letting him place the sabers in a hidden compartment in the deck of the shuttle. If she took them with her into the darkness of the Imperial Palace, they would be stripped from her… or worse.

No, they needed to play along with the Emperor’s schemes, for now. Let him remould them in his own image if he wished. It would only ever be skin-deep.

 _‘Kill the past… leave it all behind,’_ she reminded herself. _‘It’s the only way this will work…’_

For a moment, BD and the surviving crew of the _Mantis_ sprang to mind as she felt sorrow well. She knew Cal sensed it, knelt on the floor by the open compartment as he wrapped their sabers in protective cloth, his shoulders tensing.

“He would have come with me, you know,” she whispered bleakly, swallowing hard. “I had to deactivate him to stop him from following me when I left.”

“Greez will look after him,” Cal said, after a tense moment as his hands trembled on the sabers and Jayna felt a sudden swell of terror and revulsion displace the resolve inside her, then it passed, as he lowered the bundle of cloth into the compartment.

Recalling her dream, Jayna frowned, feeling the tug deep in her soul as Cal closed the compartment’s lid, sealing them away. “I’ll retrieve them later,” he assured her, with a cocky smirk as he straightened, turning, and pulling her into his arms. “I’ll keep them safe; I promise.”

“You’d better, Kestis,” she hissed as his hands twined around her waist, riding low on his hips as he pulled her against his chest. As they’d entered Coruscant’s atmosphere, he had re-dressed in his uniform, including the sweeping cloak and gauntlets of the Inquisitorius. On the one hand, she hated it and everything it symbolised… on the other, he suited it far too well, the unrelenting black of his tunic making his hair shine vividly, the blood-red of the cloak’s lining and the stripes on his breeches standing out boldly.

The passion that flared in her gut was a welcome relief from the dichotomy in her soul, distracting her as she leant in and captured his lips, still bearing the imprint of her teeth from Nar Shaddaa. Their other wounds, they’d healed with bacta strips and balm, not wanting any trace of their bonding and the ritual they had performed on Moraband to betray them.

The dyad was the one thing they possessed, the one weapon the Emperor could not predict, and so could not guard against. When the time was right, it would be his undoing.

But not yet.

No, a long, dark road stretched out ahead of them before they could hope to stand against the Emperor and his lackey. By the time they reached its end, their hands would be drenched in blood, but it was necessary. Following the same, dusty path to extinction as their forebears wouldn’t defeat the Empire…they would fight fire with fire, and this time, they would win.

If they lost themselves in the process, it was a sacrifice they would willingly make.

And so, they sealed that unspoken promise with a kiss, passionate and consuming, her hands in his hair, his possessive and heavy on her hips before they drew back. Without a backwards glance, they turned and left the living area with its secret, forbidden cargo behind.

* * *

The landing ramp lowered slowly, giving Jayna plenty of time to compose herself. Reaching out to the Force, it wasn’t hard to reclaim that calm resolve she’d discovered on Moraband, letting it fill her as the tendrils of darkness in the Force, all-encompassing and pervasive on Coruscant, took hold, draping her in a cool shield of shadow.

By the time the landing ramp made contact with the deck of the landing pad, Jayna was composed, sure in her own power, as her burning yellow eyes stared out from under the hood of her jacket.

Beside her, Cal’s hand was heavy and comforting on the small of her back, gently pressing her forward as she took in the guard waiting for them, ostensibly one of honour, but she saw it for what it was: a power play as the dark robed figure stepped forward, an armoured Stormtrooper at his side bearing a captain’s pauldron.

“First Brother, welcome back to Coruscant,” the robed figure, a blue-skinned Chagrian she recognised from Imperial propaganda broadcasts as Grand Vizier Mas Amedda, smiled thinly as he stepped towards them. “Your success is to be commended. We will take the prisoner from here.”

Jayna flicked a hard, icy glare at the Chagrian, stopping him in his tracks. Another power play, was it? “I am no prisoner, Grand Vizier,” she replied coldly, as the Chagrian’s eyes widened at her own burning, yellow gaze.

“Careful, Grand Vizier,” Cal chuckled at her side, touching a finger to his still injured lip. “She bites.”

“Be that as it may, until she has been interrogated-!?” The Grand Vizier’s speech was cut off as Jayna raised a lazy hand, clenching it into a fist. His air supply cut off, the Chagrian’s eyes ballooned comically from his head as he scrabbled at the invisible, untouchable bands around his throat. Meanwhile, the assembled Stormtroopers and Royal Guards all advanced, brandishing their weapons as Cal sighed wearily.

“Enough!” he snapped, with a narrow look at the Grand Vizier as Jayna released him from her hold. “I did warn you, Amedda. Now, the Emperor expects us… come!”

Holding out his hand, Cal took Jayna’s as he led her down the landing ramp as a knight sworn might his queen. Shouldering their weapons once more, the Royal Guards turned on their heels and followed the pair. The Grand Vizier and his entourage of Stormtroopers were left staring, unsure what to do, before they too turned and followed, leaving the Grand Vizier trembling alone with impotent rage at the humiliation.

 _‘So far, so good,’_ Cal’s voice echoed in her head. _‘You needed to show your strength. Power is all that matters here but I wouldn’t advise you try that on your father…’_

 _‘He’s **not** my father,’ _Jayna replied, her mental voice as cold as her physical one as Cal’s hand tightened around hers.

 _‘From this moment on, he is. You have to accept that lie, because he’ll try and use it to control you and that will give us the means with which to subvert him. Make him believe you the loyal, lost girl and he’ll never see us coming,’_ he continued sternly, sending her a swift, pointed glance out the corner of her eye as they left the courtyard behind.

Inside, they stepped into a long, winding corridor carpeted with plush, blood-red runners, the walls lined with Imperial banners, but otherwise it was sparsely decorated. The Imperial Palace still retained the base shape of the Jedi Temple ziggurat underneath all its additions in the years since the Purge, and they followed it now, heading ever deeper into its base as they walked through administrative offices staffed by impassively faced dignitaries and military attaches, past crowds of supplicants submitting pleas to the legal offices. They all stared, Jayna sensing their curiosity and trepidation, along with a healthy dose of disdain for her ragged appearance but she didn’t care. The kind of respect born from a couture gown wasn’t her aim today.

They weren’t who she needed to impress, and thus, dupe. No, the man she was trying to fool wouldn’t be swayed by what clothes she wore. Instead, she let the shadow of the Dark Side that pervaded the building she now walked through cloak her in impenetrable, cold indifference.

Finally, they reached a turbolift set into a tower in the very heart of the ziggurat, guarded by two Royal Guards. Cal glanced at one as they inclined their head, the other typing a code into the turbolift’s control console as the doors opened.

While they waited, Jayna glanced around her. This deep into the Empire’s heart, most of the people milling about the place looked military in nature. One caught her eye, a tall, broad-shouldered male, powerfully built, filling his grey officer’s tunic to advantage, especially compared to the youthful, distinctly forgettable young Ensign who stood by his side. But what drew her attention was his skin and eyes: one was a striking cobalt blue, while the other was a burning, almost glowing red.

The Empire’s xenophobia and anti-alien sentiment was well-known; Jayna had seen it herself on Nar Shaddaa, Bracca and Kashyyyk, so to see an obviously alien Imperial officer, with a lieutenant commander’s insignia plaque, was both intriguing and shocking.

She felt Cal follow her gaze, as he gently squeezed her hand to gain her attention as the Royal Guards waved them through silently. He shared her interest, she could sense it, but now was not the time to get distracted.

“The Emperor will receive us in in his audience chamber,” Cal informed her quietly, as they walked inside the turbolift, flanked by two Royal Guards from their escort. _‘The former Hall of Knighthood, where Padawans became Knights of the Order…once upon a time.’_

Jayna sensed the flare of anger at the thought, ruthlessly controlled and channelled away, into some deep, dark chamber in his innermost being, where not even Vader and the Emperor could reach, full of pain, rage and hatred simmering unchecked. A spark would be enough to send it flaring into an all-consuming conflagration that would destroy everything in its path.

But not yet.

* * *

Finally, after ascending to the penultimate level of the central spire of the Imperial Palace, the turbolift shuddered to a halt. The doors opened, revealing a cavernous chamber that stretched away to a large, circular window at the very zenith of the chamber. A ten-metre-tall podium stood there, on which rested a simple black chair. As Jayna let Cal lead her out, flanked by the Royal Guards, she realised the chamber was circular, and even more vast than it first appeared.

The darkness was more complete here, a black hole in the tapestry of the Force, its shadows oppressive, exerting a sucking, grasping pull on her mind and soul, as she inhaled tightly against it. Glancing up, she dropped Cal’s hand, distancing herself slightly.

She sensed his understanding, even as her eyes became glued to the figure awaiting them in the chair on the podium ahead. Emperor, Dark Lord of the Sith …the man formerly known as Sheev Palpatine. And the source of her true father’s DNA.

Darth Sidious.

His yellow eyes were fixed on her, a greedy, anticipatory light in them that made her want to vomit. His features were cloaked in shadow, distorted by the heavy, hooded robe he wore, but the hands resting on the armrests of his chair were wrinkled, bloodless and covered in tiny, snaking blue veins. If there was any weakness in him, he showed nothing more as he stood, graceful and strong despite his gnarled appearance, holding out his hands as if in benediction.

“Welcome home, my hound! You have done well,” he all but purred as Jayna, Cal and their escort stopped, the latter dropping to their knees as Cal did the same. Jayna stayed standing, yellow eyes burning as she met and held his gaze, a silent battle breaking out between them as the Emperor smirked down at her.

Forcing her instinctive defiance down, Jayna lowered her hood and made her head bow, sinking to her knees beside Cal as silence stretched out, and then-

A laugh, high, cold, and cruel, as Jayna fought not to flinch.

“You have done very well indeed, my boy,” the Emperor chuckled, beckoning them with his hands. “Rise and come closer, my child. Let me look upon a face I’ve longed to see in person.”

Gritting her teeth, Jayna forced herself to relax as she raised her head, walking steadily towards the Emperor as Cal followed, his cloak billowing behind him. They stopped at the steps up to the podium, leaving Jayna staring up at the Emperor as he came to the very edge of the podium, gazing down at her hungrily, his eyes searching her features as she sensed his mind reach out to hers.

With a shudder, she let him in, letting him see only what he wanted to see: all the darkness, rage, hate and pain inside her, not only at him but at the galaxy and everything it had taken from her, demanded from her and given nothing back.

Or so it had felt, in her darker moments. It was useful as a distraction tactic now, as she pushed her contemptuous, treasonous thoughts into a tiny ball, shoving it deep into her own psyche as she endured his probing, striving to keep everything she didn’t want him to know obscured: the dyad, their nascent plan to take the Empire down from within, her restored memories of her parents.

Instead, she let him see her rage at Malavai’s manipulations, her isolation from those she’d once called family, her desire for a family, for purpose, even as she strove to simply survive. She let him see her anger at Cal’s seeming betrayal, the animalistic desire to preserve her own freedom, even while she kept the depths of her passion from him.

Finally, it was over as Jayna breathed a little freer as the insidious pressure of his power left her mind. They weren’t immediately struck down, as Cal was forced to endure the Emperor’s probing next, so she assumed they’d gotten away with it. This time.

“Today is a happy day for the Empire,” the Emperor pronounced softly. “Today, the First Brother has restored… my daughter to me, where once I thought never to meet her in this life. You resemble your mother.”

Inwardly, Jayna smiled cynically. Outwardly, she injected her expression with just the right amount of surprised yearning. “You…knew my mother?” she asked quietly, ignoring the bantha in the room that was her true father. Not this withered husk masking the monster within, but the gentle, loving healer her mother had left the Jedi Order for.

“I met her once when she was just a Padawan. She had an extraordinary aptitude for the healing arts,” he replied gravely. “An aptitude I hope she passed to you… I understand your distrust, your uncertainty…since your awakening, you have been mired by manipulation and indoctrination but now you have come home… everything you’ve ever wished for, I will provide if you help me in return…”

“How can I help you, Your Majesty?” Jayna asked disbelievingly.

“Help me to heal this galaxy. You have a singular gift, Jayna… a gift that could bring an end to war, discord, and resistance to the civilisation of Imperial rule. Together, you and I will bring an end to all of these and ensure peace for our Empire,” he replied sombrely, a hand stretched out to her.

The last thing she wanted was to put her hand in that clawed trap, knowing once she did, it would close on her and never let go willingly.

 _‘For the galaxy…’_ she thought to herself as she walked up the steps and stretched out her hand. “I will… Father. For the sake of the galaxy,” she replied earnestly as the Emperor chuckled when her hand slipped into his, his clawed, gnarled fingers snapping shut over hers.

“Good,” he hissed, pleased as his eyes swung to Cal, who’d remained at the foot of the steps. “She did not come quietly, First Brother,” he added with a huff of laughter, his eyes on Cal’s injured lip.

“Indeed, she did not, Your Majesty,” Cal chuckled, touching his split lip. “But I expected nothing less. If I may ask, what of my former master?”

“Lord Vader’s treachery has not been forgotten but he is not without his uses. He will not dare to strike at you now, but you must remain on guard. As any Sith lord must,” the Emperor replied gravely.

“Your Majesty?” Cal asked, frowning slightly.

“You have proven your loyalty…son of Kenobi,” the Emperor gestured to him with his other hand, as he pulled Jayna to stand just beside him on the step beneath. “Once, the Rule of Two protected us from discovery and persecution, but those days are over. The Jedi traitors are destroyed. Your father defeated my apprentice… you have shown you may one day surpass even him. From this day forward, you will take the title of Hound of the Empire, and Lord of the Sith, for restoring my daughter to me. From this day on, you will answer only to me. Not Lord Vader, not the Grand Inquisitor. Only to me… and my daughter.”

Cal fell to his knees, head bowed. “I will strive to be worthy of it, Master,” he breathed, as Jayna fought not to stiffen with her hand in the Emperor’s clawed one.

“Rise, Lord Hound,” the Emperor croaked. “Together with my daughter, you will become a force unmatched by any in the galaxy. Together, you will bring peace to the Empire against any who oppose us.”

Cal rose from the floor, his voice low and reverential even as Jayna felt his anger and disgust underneath the veil of darkness in his soul, the Force bond shining like a supernova in her mind. “I will strive to be worthy, my Master,” he repeated.

“As will I,” Jayna breathed, daring to break the silence. “Though I don’t know how.”

“There has not been a true master of battle meditation since the Mandalorian Wars, but I am confident we shall discover the way. Together,” the Emperor replied, as she turned to face him, genuine curiosity in her eyes. “As the First Lady of my Empire, you shall be my voice, my eyes, and my will. But first, you must learn how. To that end, I wish to introduce you to someone.”

A wave of his hand, and the turbolift doors opened to reveal the blue-skinned alien officer from the atrium.

“May I introduce Commander Thrawn? Formerly of the Chiss Ascendency?” the Emperor purred lightly as the officer strode towards them confidently. “He is a master of war. I am sure you will learn much from his tutelage.”

“He wears the insignia of a Lieutenant Commander,” Jayna observed.

“For now. He will soon learn of his promotion,” the Emperor replied silkily. “He will spend the next month here before he takes up his new command on the _Thunder Wasp_. I suggest, daughter, you learn all you can from him while you may. I have no doubt you will find him as fascinating as he will find you both.”

As the Chiss officer came nearer, Jayna inhaled tightly. _‘The blue-skinned alien from my dream…’_ she realised as he stopped at the foot of the steps, saluting smartly.

“My Emperor,” he intoned gravely. His voice was deep, sibilant, and refined, with the slightest traces of an accent, sending a shiver down Jayna’s spine as his eyes met hers.

A sense of something far greater than them touched her in that moment, as she seemed to see again her dream, as a slow smile lit her features.

She sensed Cal’s confusion, but kept her thoughts to herself, for now. _‘Now I know exactly how to bring the Empire down…’_ she thought grimly, as she realised that, as always, the Force had shown her the path. As the direct, unabashedly scrutinising gaze of Thrawn swept over her and Cal, she saw the path ahead clearly.

“Lieutenant Commander,” the Emperor inclined his head solemnly. “Welcome back to Coruscant. I believe you’ve had a passing introduction with the former First Brother, now the Hound of the Empire?” he gestured to Cal, as the latter nodded to Thrawn, who returned the gesture. “But I don’t believe you’ve met my daughter, Lady Palpatine?”

Jayna felt the sudden pressure of his will against her mind, watching her intensely for her reaction as she kept her expression cool and composed, extending her hand as he reached out with his own. “I do not believe I have had the honour,” he replied urbanely, bowing very correctly over her hand. “Lady Palpatine.”

“Lieutenant Commander Thrawn. Forgive me, but I don’t believe I’ve ever encountered your people before?” Jayna breathed, as in her head, the vision of the path ahead crystallised, gaining a clarity she’d never known before.

Thrawn’s red eyes darted between her and the Emperor. “Few have, my lady,” he said, as he released her hand. “The Chiss do not venture often outside our borders.”

Her eyes narrowed, Jayna went to speak but was forced to stop as the Emperor cut across her. “Come, daughter. You shall have time enough to indulge your curiosity later but for now, I have matters to discuss with Lieutenant Commander Thrawn. I have ordered apartments to be readied for you; my Hound will show you to them.”

With a small bow, Jayna stepped away from the Emperor, joining Cal at the foot of the steps as he held out his hand to her. Pausing for a moment, Jayna glanced over her shoulder at the Chiss, his red eyes intent on hers.

“I hope you’ll find time to ‘indulge’ my curiosity further, during your time on Coruscant, Lieutenant Commander,” she told him, politely enough, but it was also a discreet order. From the amusement she sensed emanating from the Emperor, he wasn’t displeased by it.

Thrawn inclined his head once more. “I suspect I shall,” he replied, with just a hint of amusement of his own, his eyes lingering on her hand in Cal’s.

Inhaling tightly, Jayna bowed once more, Cal mirroring the action at her side, before they turned, and he began to lead her out. As she turned her back on the Emperor and Thrawn, a small, unguarded smile dawned.

The path forward was clear. Now, she just had to walk it.

But she wouldn’t be walking it alone.

* * *

_To be continued in 'To Kill An Emperor' and 'Artist's Soul, Warrior's Heart' series_


End file.
